A Special Day, Petrov Day

Today is September 26th, Petrov Day, celebrated to honor the deed of Stanislav Yevgrafovich Petrov on September 26th, 1983. Wherever you are, whatever you're doing, take a minute to not destroy the world.

The story begins on September 1st, 1983, when Soviet jet interceptors shot down a Korean Air Lines civilian airliner after the aircraft crossed into Soviet airspace and then, for reasons still unknown, failed to respond to radio hails. 269 passengers and crew died, including US Congressman Lawrence McDonald. Ronald Reagan called it "barbarism", "inhuman brutality", "a crime against humanity that must never be forgotten". Note that this was already a very, very poor time for US/USSR relations. Andropov, the ailing Soviet leader, was half-convinced the US was planning a first strike. The KGB sent a flash message to its operatives warning them to prepare for possible nuclear war.

On September 26th, 1983, Lieutenant Colonel Stanislav Yevgrafovich Petrov was the officer on duty when the warning system reported a US missile launch. Petrov kept calm, suspecting a computer error.

Then the system reported another US missile launch.

And another, and another, and another.

What had actually happened, investigators later determined, was sunlight on high-altitude clouds aligning with the satellite view on a US missile base.

In the command post there were beeping signals, flashing lights, and officers screaming at people to remain calm. According to several accounts I've read, there was a large flashing screen from the automated computer system saying simply "START" (presumably in Russian). Afterward, when investigators asked Petrov why he hadn't written everything down in the logbook, Petrov replied,"Because I had a phone in one hand and the intercom in the other, and I don't have a third hand."

The policy of the Soviet Union called for launch on warning. The Soviet Union's land radar could not detect missiles over the horizon, and waiting for positive identification would limit the response time to minutes. Petrov's report would be relayed to his military superiors, who would decide whether to start a nuclear war.

Petrov decided that, all else being equal, he would prefer not to destroy the world. He sent messages declaring the launch detection a false alarm, based solely on his personal belief that the US did not seem likely to start an attack using only five missiles.

Petrov was first congratulated, then extensively interrogated, then reprimanded for failing to follow procedure. He resigned in poor health from the military several months later. According to Wikipedia, he is spending his retirement in relative poverty in the town of Fryazino, on a pension of $200/month. In 2004, the Association of World Citizens gave Petrov a trophy and $1000. There is also a movie scheduled for release in 2008, entitled The Red Button and the Man Who Saved the World.

Maybe someday, the names of people who decide not to start nuclear wars will be as well known as the name of Britney Spears. Looking forward to such a time, when humankind has grown a little wiser, let us celebrate, in this moment, Petrov Day.

Cross post from LessWrong.

Now THIS should be what Nobel Peace Prizes are given out for. Not 'potential' to enact change.

Saturday Morning Cartoons

Bonus Saturday Morning Cartoon...

Please don’t be offended if you have an iphone, just a cute video that’s been making the rounds – apple is a marketing genius. Be warned, it contains rough language.

Jobs: Phones Suck

Scott Adams [Dilbert] bows at Steve Jobs’ crisis management skills.

I’m sure you’re all following the iPhone 4 story. If you hold the phone a certain way, it drops calls.

In a press conference on the subject, Steve Jobs said, “We’re not perfect. Phones are not perfect. We all know that. But we want to make our users happy.”

Jobs got a lot of heat about his response. Where was the apology? Where was the part where he acknowledged that the buck stops with him, and that Apple made a big mistake that never should have happened? That’s public relations 101, right?

I’m a student of how language influences people. Apple’s response to the iPhone 4 problem didn’t follow the public relations playbook because Jobs decided to rewrite the playbook. (I pause now to insert the necessary phrase Magnificent Bastard.) If you want to know what genius looks like, study Jobs’ words: “We’re not perfect. Phones are not perfect. We all know that. But we want to make our users happy.”

Jobs changed the entire argument with nineteen words. He was brief. He spoke indisputable truth. And later in his press conference, he offered clear fixes.

Did it work? Check out the media response. There’s lots of talk about whether other smartphones are perfect or not. There’s lots of talk about whether Jobs’ response was the right one. But the central question that was in everyone’s head before the press conference – “Is the iPhone 4 a dud” – has, well, evaporated. Part of the change in attitude is because the fixes Apple offered are adequate. But those fixes easily could have become part of the joke if handled in an apologetic “please kick me” way.

If Jobs had not changed the context from the iPhone 4 in particular to all smartphones in general, I could make you a hilarious comic strip about a product so poorly made that it won’t work if it comes in contact with a human hand. But as soon as the context is changed to “all smartphones have problems,” the humor opportunity is gone. Nothing kills humor like a general and boring truth.

The fact that the iPhone 4 is, in fact, a dud has been, at least temporarily, obscured by this brilliant jujitsu. But, it turns out, most of iPhone’s competitors still work if you hold them using your hands.

Not Perfect

Think Different. About Apple

George Carlin FTW: FFC Says Curseword Crackdown Unconstitutional

WNYW/Ch. 5 anchor Ernie Anastos is caught on live television saying
"Keep f---ing that chicken" to weatherman Nick Gregory.

An appeals court ruling Tuesday declared the Federal Communications Commission's indecency rule unconstitutional.

The ruling, with provocative implications for evening TV. There's a chance this might loosen the tongues of pent up curse words the likes not seen since Howard Stern went from terrestrial radio to Satellite.

"The court says that dropping the F-bomb on prime time TV in front of kids is okay," said Dan Isepp of the Parents Television Council. "The door has been kicked down."

The group sided with the FCC and against six television stations, including FOX, ABC and CBS.

"I am shocked by such an anti-family decision," said FCC Commissioner Michael Copps. "This decision gives them the unfettered ability to air whatever content they want."

Nothing would change for at least 45 days as the FCC decides whether to appeal and - if the Supreme Court takes it up - until the case is ultimately decided.

The ruling only applies to broadcast TV in prime time and not to cable television.

If it stands, the decision would end the policy of fining broadcasters for foul language put in place after Bono used the F-word on the January 2003 NBC broadcast of the Golden Globes Awards.

"The FCC's indecency policy is unconstitutional because it is impermissibly vague," the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said in a 32-page decision.

The ruling touched on everything from George Carlin's famous "Seven Words You Can Never Say on Television" to foul words by Nicole Richie on a Billboard Music Awards show - one of several cases that led to the decision. The decision was filled with words routinely bleeped out on television, from bulls--- to d---head.

Holy Shit.

Want to Read more?

RIP, Gary

Can't Chew Gum and Evolve at the Same Time

Look, I know that this is a viral ad, and I'm just perpetuating their message by posting this - but what does it say about your Board of Education when a chewing gum commercial understands the concept of evolution better than they do?

Clearly that gum was intelligently designed. Someone will probably sue saying that their gum didn't last "that" long.

Me? I think they should change the term to "Adaptation" as it more clearly defines the concept. It's not survival of the fittest, it's the adaptation to the environment that wins the day.
Kind of like how nerds with money are getting laid now-a-days.

Of course, no amount of education will stop some people from thinking that the Flintstones is a documentary.

New Mac

Just in time for the final Mac Show...


Apple Introduces Revolutionary New Laptop With No Keyboard

I want one!

Legislating Morality

Welcome to 2008. For those of you in Illinois, you will notice that you are no longer allowed to enjoy a cigarette indoors.

While Smoking Bans are not specifically part of a socioeconomic system based on a classless society with common ownership of the means of production, they do reek of some form of government that is not based on a free market society.

Is it wrong for lawmakers to assume it is their right
to make decisions on behalf of business owners and patrons of those establishments? Too late. The debate is over, a freedom lost. Common sense lost - yet again.

Smokers are just like non-smokers in that, if you ask them nicely, they'll typically accommodate others. Smokers are aware others don't like the smoke, and most of them will gladly move somewhere else of asked politely. If you act like a jerk - they'll tell you where you can stick your righteous indignation.

Most of addiction is psychological - to smoke or not is a matter of choice and, in some cases, discipline or convenience. Cigarettes don't turn people into mindless zombies incapable of rational thought. People make their choices and live with them.

Despite the party line hysteria regarding the health effects of smoking, the bottom line is that everyone responds to tobacco differently. Thousands of people live to a ripe old age smoking a pack a day, while others get emphysema after only a decade of smoking. Sure the risks are there, but no more risky than fatty foods, a sedentary lifestyle, mass alcohol consumption, or working in an environment with toxic airborne chemicals. Stay tuned - those items are in Committee somewhere.

I have yet to see any hard evidence linking second-hand smoke to an epidemic of respiratory illness. Yes, there may be some individual cases, but it's quite a stretch to claim that all second-hand smoke is always dangerous to every person around. The fact the CDC can't name a single person who has actually died of second hand smoke has to be worth something to the argument.

In two states that passed smoking bans I've run across more people upset at the ban than happy about it - smokers and non-smokers alike.

Whatever happened to the power of persuasion? I don't have a problem with a business owner - be it locally-owned or a corporate chain - banning smoking on their premises. That's their choice and they could be effected by the wallet by their choice.

I do however, have a problem with corrupt bureaucrats who think they have the power to dictate what can happen on private property. Toss in threatening criminal prosecution and denial of property rights to those who don't comply with hysterical nonsense - oh yeah, I'm not so happy about that. The not-so-slippery slope is: now that the power and precedent to flex a 'ban' has been established and accepted - what's next?

Trans fats have already been banned in New York and Chicago. Chicago also has banned fois gras.

We lost prohibition. We lost the war on drugs. Yet we allow our leaders to continue to enforce morality on us. It just doesn't work.

However, once a freedom is given up - it will not be returned.

That is, without force.

Overused Words

A "surge" of overused words and phrases formed a "perfect storm" of "post-9/11" cliches in 2007. A list of words and phrases that you should drop from your vascular in the new year.

"A perfect storm," has been numbingly applied to virtually any notable coincidence. It should be used only when three bad things happen at once, and then kills you. Like the book/movie/actual weather occurrence. So now it's ruined, and shouldn't be said anymore.

"Webinar" has become a tiresome non-word that combines Web and seminar. It has fallen into the uselessness of e-anything and i-anything.

Absurd comparisons commonly phrased "x is the new y," as in "70 is the new 50" or "chocolate is the new sex." "Fallacy is the new truth," "Grey is this year's black." Cut that sh*t out.

Using "Organic" in front of everything. Computer software to dog food are not 'organic.' Try using "pesticide free" or "food."

"Post 9/11" and "Surge" should no longer be used. Especially since Surge has been used by idiots to explain the expansion of anything, not sending more men into Iraq.

Please stop saying "give back" as applied to charitable gestures, usually you goddamned celebrities.

Stay away from "Back in the day." It's been used too often to explain events from last month, not 1972.

"Random" and "Sweet" : both have retired and died.

"It is what it is." Please don't say that any more.

"Throw under the bus." Unless you see someone do this and you are explaining how the man "...threw the old lady under the bus..." don't say this anymore. It's about as useful as "thinking outside the box."

And finally, any self-respecting writer should never consider themselves a "wordsmith" who engages in "wordsmithing."

Big Sister Ad

Here's the most viral ad so far. It shows people are thinking. And how
dangerous is that to the old skool? Watch this, and realize the fear this brings the establishment.

Enjoy. Anyone got a hammer?